Creativity in cocktails is a wonderful thing but before you can truly be wild with the ingredients that you combine, you really need to know the basics.
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And that is the advantage of a book like Schofield’s Fine & Classic Cocktails. Aside from having what would have to be close to a perfect list of cocktail classics, it is a book that runs through the beverage philosophy of two of this era’s best bartenders.
In the book, Joe & Daniel Schofield, run through ten points that they believe are fundamental to creating the perfect drink. Sure, they talk about flavour, garnishes, aroma and hospitality but more importantly, they talk about knowledge, ‘kaizen’ and ‘haptic perception’.
Now while knowledge is pretty self-explanatory, the last two probably need a bit of definition.
‘Kaizen’ as they define it, is a Japanese term that describes ‘continuous improvement’. In other words, these are not boys that rest on their laurels and they strongly believe you shouldn’t either.
While making drinks is fun, the brothers believe that there should be a certain dedication that everyone who makes a drink, professional or otherwise, should bring to the craft. “We should always be looking for ways to improve and evolve,” they say, and it is only through that devotion that you get closer to perfect.
‘Haptic Perception’ is the other term they use that really needs a bit of clarification. They state that it means, ‘the ability to grasp something’. In other words, the look, touch and feel of a thing becomes integral to the experience of it. So here they are saying that’s not just knowing what to serve but also how to serve it to enliven the senses.
Yet no matter how fancy a term you put on it, what the Schofield’s are getting at with their philosophy all points back to one basic premise. You need to be able to crawl before you can run. And we all need to know more before we can truly start playing around and experimenting.
In no way is this meant to discourage experimentation. After all, experimentation is what helps us grow and making mistakes is all part of the experience (after all there are a couple of cocktails that only exists today because of mistakes that were made). All it’s really saying is that sometimes you need to fully understand the rules before you know how and when you can acceptably break them.
Having a true understanding of the foundations and an understanding of why some classic drinks have survived is important. Why the flavour combinations and presentation actually work is the difference between being able to execute outstanding drinks of your own creation or just mediocre ones.
This is why books like Schofield’s Fine and Classic Cocktails are important. Not only have the brothers assembled what they believe are the top 100 classics but they have also talked about why these combined liquids hold their spot on their list.
Having a passion for what you are creating is important but having the knowledge, sense and determination for it to be as perfect as it can is the linchpin. As they say, ‘hospitality is always at its best when it comes from the heart and someone believing what they are doing is right’.
